


They're the Fallen Stars

by tigereyes45



Series: Jlaire Week 2019 [3]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: AU, Day 3, F/M, Jlaire Week, Older Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigereyes45/pseuds/tigereyes45
Summary: Dreams have a habit of making one relive memories from a new angle. Sometimes they allow one to connect two dots which had no obvious ties before. They could even reveal that Claire and her boyfriend are just like fallen stars.





	They're the Fallen Stars

As she confesses her sins to the night sky it answers back. Sending a falling star across the sky, Claire squeezes her knees even tighter to her chest. Her eyes follow the star closely. Her mind conjuring up hypotheticals of her calculating its trajectory and finding it. Arcadia Oaks was a strange place after all. It would be just like its luck for a star to land here.

Quickly she maps its trajectory. Using a few imaginary numbers her teacher had mentioned earlier. She packs her backpack up and runs down the stairs. Only for her mother to stop her there.

"Claire where are you going?"

"Outside!"

"With your backpack?"

Little Claire looks back over her shoulder. Yes, the backpack was still there. Her eyes linger on the front door as her head turns back. When she looks back up at her mom she had her lie.

"I need it."

"Why?"

"I'm going to catch fireflies and I need to put them in my backpack so they come home with me."

Her mother's left eyebrow goes up. Claire tries to smile. That meant she didn't believe her. Soon she would be sent back to bed. Then she'll never find the fallen star!

"There are fireflies in the backyard. Let mommy have your backpack and we'll get you a jar." Before Claire could even try to protest her backpack was already sliding off her shoulders. Her mother had stopped her with ease. The polite smile on her face makes Claire angry. Still the young eight-year-old smiles politely back. Feigning excitement she darts towards the kitchen and waits for the jar.

Once she gets outside she follows some fireflies. Claire attempts to try and catch them. She needed her mother to believe her. Her eyes check different spots in the fence as she chases the bugs. She never did find a hole or a way to go see the fallen star. By the time Claire even caught one firefly in the jar she had all but forgotten the star.

* * *

The next time she saw a falling star Enrique had been in her arms. His blonde hair was being blown by the hard wind of the storm. Even with the security circle of trolls, the wind attacks all. Stone bodies or not, even Blinky had trouble trying to not wince from the power. Enrique was crying in her arms. She can still picture the vivid image of dropping her newly crafted staff. She held him against her chest with both arms. When the sound of a ship’s whirring engine flies above their heads. Claire risks a look up. She saw what appeared to be an Akiridian woman in a small ship. He was gone just as quickly as he had appeared.

Jim’s arms wrap around her head and force Claire to bend over Erinque’s body. The sound was clear. It was a crash. She could feel Aaarrrgghh!!! Set his arms down on either side of the large group. An unnatural about of force pushes them all to lean a little further forward.

Toby’s gasp tears at her heart. Claire attempts to look behind her. She manages a look around Jim only for Aaarrrgghh!!! And Blinky to block her view. The cries of Aja only confirm what the smoke in the dark night sky suggested. Whoever that was, was dead.

Claire holds Enrique tighter to her body as she looks around. There had to be someplace she could hide him. A safe place so she can fight. So they all didn’t die. Whatever the ship had hit she doubts it was Morgana. No, the sorceress would not go down that easily. Finally, her eyes land on the top of the music shop. There was a staircase with one exit. If Notenrique stays with him, then Enrique would be safe up there.

“I have to get Enrique out of here!” She remembers calling over the whirlwinds.

“Go!” Jim moves his arms out of her way. He gives a battle cry out the sounds of fighting picked up again.

“NotEnrique!” As soon as his name slips out she felt the extra weight of the changeling on her back. She bolts using up all the adrenaline her body could afford her. “The door!” She stumbles as Notenrique jumps off from her shoulder. Claire quickly throws one of her hands out. The force of it was just enough to keep her from falling.

The door swings open as Claire stumbles the rest of the way in. Her body relaxed as soon as all the wind quit pulling on her. “T-the st-stairs,” she had managed to explain between huffs. Enrique finally stopped crying as soon as he was inside. Her little brother pulled at her shirt without care. His giggles had given her a little bit of hope.

“Let’s go!” Notenrique waved her over.

It took two seconds for her to reach the stairs. It was three minutes before Noterinque got the door to the roof opened. It felt like entirety as the three faces the powerful winds. Her original plan is tossed to the wind as her brothers were nearly blown away. Claire grabs Notenrique by his scruff and pulls him back to her.

She bent down and held each brother in her folded arms. Her hands press their heads to close against her. She quickly spins on her heels so her back was towards the fight. Her eyes looked up. As their small hands clinging to her, her hair is pulled back. With her head pulled back her eyes open to see the sky full of stars. There, for the second time in her life, Claire sees a falling star.

Her wish was simple, she wanted them to survive. Her, and her brothers, and Jim, and everyone. She wanted them all to live.

* * *

When her eyes open up she is back in her bed. The sounds of Akiridians moving about outside their room helps her realize where she was. She reaches out to find Jim fast asleep beside her. Claire sighs in relief as she rubs her fingers slowly over his chest. They were alive, but in a way, they were the fallen stars now. Stuck on a planet far from home.

Alone.

The two of them just like her two fallen stars.


End file.
